I am intimidated!

Hi, I am a 64 yr old woman who is finally free of religious skeletons. I can now without guilt call myself an Atheist. Because of my "Christian" upbringing ,my thoughts, ideas, opinions became molded for me but not by me, as a result i have never been able to express myself very well . I now hold my own opinions which i would like to articulate on this site but so far feel intimidated with the writings, they all sound so intelligent and im impressed by the way opinions are expressed . The other day a blog on here was a guy expressing his disgust on how stupid some people are when it comes to writing their opinions without proper punctuation ,spelling etc, well i am one of those people, I feel very intelligent inside but cannot express myself well. I guess the point im trying to make is that i found this site interesting but feel very intimated to speak my mind. For now i will just sit back and enjoy the reading.

Replies to This Discussion

My advice would be that if you have an honest interjection to a forum, post it! Maybe throw a clause in there that says, "Maybe I'm off base but..." or "I'm not very well aquainted with this topic but...". Whatever the case I hope everyone who has a genuine question or comment can post it without trepidation. Afterall, atheist are a hard lot to organize and give an all inclusive group, so let's not let that deteriorate here! :)

Like you, I rarely participate in the conversations, not due to insecurities related my grammar, but because I have never talked extensively about religion, or my opinion of it. I have always seen this as a hot button issue because I am an atheist. When I was young I was always told I would go to hell, I grew tired of people trying to convert me, etc. As a result, I guess I have been in the closet. I wonder if the fact that this is new to you, embracing the identifier of atheist, which holds you back, and not simply your possible shortcomings in communication. I have noticed some very well spoken individuals on here, which was the main reason I joined this site. I really enjoy reading the replies and blogs on here, and finally feel like there are other people out there who think (sometimes) like I do. I guess I was tired of having no voice, so even when I read a fantastic post, I feel validated.

I've only had in depth JW conversation with one JW (female) and found that they weren't nearly as fundamentalist (or nuts) as my Pentecostal family. Post secondary education didn't seem to be an issue at all in her family, as far as their religion was concerned.

From what little I know of JWism, it seemed to hang together more logically than regular Xianity (with one exception). The alleged loving god, for instance, doesn't fry people in hell for eternity. But of course I'll defer to any ex JWs who might be here!

The exception of course is the end times bullshit and their repeated failed predictions as to when it would be.

Just going to church doesn't make you a Christian any more than standing in your garage makes you a car." G.K. Chesterton.

I must add that, everything else in the garage is also included!

Several years ago, I was invited to the Buddist gathering in Portland. I was all nieve, expecting that there would be a lot of selfless meditation and insight, WRONG! This was a meeting of a group that called itself Buddist, but used meditation to bring money, power, women, cars, stuff, into thier lives. They even had a little chant, sadly I can't remember how it goes. Members said that the chant works. I quess all that work and stuff that I indulged in was a waste of time? Insight is such a begger in hindsight!

Don't feel intimidated. People who complain about grammar all the time, grammar nazis, more often then not miss the content of the posts because they are trying to make themselves feel superior by pointing out the flaws of others.

I think it is awesome that you have freed yourself from the chains of religion. I am glad you are here. Please speak your mind and post often. If you feel you have trouble expressing yourself then the only way to change that is by expressing yourself. We all would love to hear how your new life coming out as an atheist is going. So please don't hesitate to start a thread, even if it is only a short one.